


Pride is a five letter word

by Ellienerd14



Series: With love (Tanlove) [5]
Category: Class (TV 2016)
Genre: Coming Out, F/F, Fluff, M/M, Tanya's an ace lesbian and I'm proud of her, pride month, the best brotp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-06-26
Packaged: 2018-11-19 11:45:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11312718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellienerd14/pseuds/Ellienerd14
Summary: A rainbow bracelet inspired Tanya to come out to Matteusz. It goes better than she could ever hope for.-"Tanya," his voice was gentler now (different from how he spoke to Charlie but still soft), "anything you'd like to talk about? You can say 'no', if you want to. We can talk about how Charlie and Quill fought over how to spell 'Hufflepuff' after I told them about Harry Potter instead."





	Pride is a five letter word

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gleek_runner](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gleek_runner/gifts).



> For Angy because she headcanoned Tanya and Ace and is an ace friend too. (Haha, I'm so funny guys.)

"I like your bracelets," Tanya said, trying to break the silence. It wasn't awkward, they were at the point were silence was welcome (it meant they weren't being attacked by deadly aliens) but she wanted to talk to Matteusz. He was her friend and he was a good place to start.

Matteusz smiled at her. He was by far the most optimistic one in their group. (Tanya had suggested the name 'Bunghole Defence Squad' but then Ram banned her from the group chat, so it didn't go down well.) "Thank you."

"The rainbow one is new," she added. Usually Matteusz just wore plainer bracelets. Tanya wasn't sure what the obsession was but she wasn't going to judge.

"I found it when I was looking though my stuff. It's from pride last year, although I didn't get to go." He played with it, out of habit.

Tanya had a feeling why and it had to do with his terrible parents. (They all had tragic back stories when it came to family. Maybe that should be the group chat name.) "I like it anyway. I think it's really cool how proud you are."

" _Tanya_ ," his voice was gentler now (different from how he spoke to Charlie but still soft), "anything you'd like to talk about? You can say 'no', if you want to. We can talk about how Charlie and Quill fought over how to spell 'Hufflepuff' after I told them about Harry Potter instead."

"Did that really happen?" Tanya asked, temporarily distracted. "Who won?"

"Neither. But it was a funny half hour."

"It sounds it. But can it wait?" Tanya requested. She took a deep breath. "Don't laugh at me."

"I'm not going to," he promised. (He probably was a Hufflepuff. Or an angel.)

"Okay, so you know how my mum always says I can never have a boyfriend? Well, I'm okay with that because I don't want that. Ever." Tanya opened her eyes and almost giggled. It was her nerves. (She never got nervous.) "No offence to your gender," she added.

"I'm not worried about girls liking me," Matteusz replied. Tanya giggled again, still feeling a little shaky.

"I am." She laughed, "I'm so happy to have said that."

"That's good. That's amazing," Matteusz replied. He was reassuring in that way - Tanya liked that about him.

"It's not just that. This is the part I'm a bit worried about telling people. Because I'm only fourteen so they might underestimate me or call me 'confused' and I'm not. I'm just me." Tanya was starting to get a bit more panicky now. "I'm ace. As in asexual not as in cool."

"Aren't all asexuals cool?" Matteusz asked. Tanya let out a shaky sigh of relieve. "It's okay. I believe you."

"It's just, I worried that people will think I'm too young to get it or know. But I know that I don't want… that." It was making her uncomfortable just thinking about it.

"It's okay. I promise you that it's okay. You're valid."

She hadn't realised how much she needed to hear it until Matteusz said it. "Thank you." She wiped her eyes and they fell into silence again. "I don't know how I'm going to tell my mum. Did you know… that they would react badly?"

"I did. But I told them anyway. And it was an awful two years living with them. But now I live with Charlie and Quill. And I'm happy. I'm really happy." Tanya could already tell. Matteusz was always smiling but he looked at Charlie like he was a star fallen from the sky.

"I might not tell mum, not now anyway. I have all the time in the world right?"

"Yeah. Maybe mention your weird dorky friend has a tall but incredibly charming boyfriend to her. Test it out," he suggested.

"Did you just describe yourself as 'tall but incredibly charming'?" Tanya questioned, laughing a little.

"Actually I was quoting my boyfriend," Matteusz replied. He was laughing too and everything felt so natural.

"So, do we hug now?" Tanya asked, looking down at her feet. The bright blue combat boots she had chosen to wear today were lucky. More lucky than she thought, apparently.

"Do you want to?"

"Yeah, just don't tell anyone. They might think we're dorks." (Ram for example. But he used it as a term of endearment really.)

There was something about hugging a friend who had just heard her most important secret, that made it seem much nicer than usual.

* * *

 

"Hi Tanya," Matteusz had left Charlie's side to sit by her. His boyfriend looked slightly lost as a result, even when reading his book.

"Hi. You left your Prince Charming?"

He only grinned at her teasing. "I wanted to see you alone. It's about yesterday."

"Oh right," she felt nervous again.

"I made you this." He passed her a bracelet from his pocket. It was similar to the Pride one he had on yesterday. (That Charlie was wearing now, if she wasn't mistaken.) The colours were different though, alternating lines of purple, white, grey and black.

"It's my flag." She looked down at the little bracelet in her hand, full of joy. "Thank you so much Matteusz."

She flung her arms around him into a hug.

"So we do hugs now?"

"I think so," Tanya replied, pulling away. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Charlie smiling into the pages of his book.

"It's subtle I thought. You can wear it and people might not get it straight away but you'll know. It's like a reminder. To have pride."

Tanya put it on. "I'm feeling pride right now."

"Good."

"If you don't mind, there's actually this girl I've fancied for ages. Can I talk about how amazing she is to you?"

Matteusz nodded. "Go ahead Tanya. I'm here and I'm listening."

"Well, her name is Clove…"

 

**Author's Note:**

> Quill obviously loved that Matteusz actually made her a friendship bracelet and made jokes about it for the rest of time. 
> 
> I'm not actually part of the LGBTQA+ community myself so if anyone sees a way I can improve it, let me know. 
> 
> Comments always appreciated. (Also remember ace people are valid and amazing!)


End file.
